Church parking lot will handle overflow during construction at Justice High School
While Fairfax County Public School officials assured the Justice High School community that there will be enough parking spaces during construction and beyond, members of the community do not agree.
Members of the Justice High School staff expressed strong concerns about the lack of parking during the construction of a new addition and beyond.
Construction of a new three-story addition to relieve overcrowding at Justice will begin this spring.
No parking working group
FCPS has worked out a temporary arrangement with the Church of Christ, located a quarter of a mile from the school, to share their parking lot with Justice staff and students, said Heather Dietz, of the school system’s design and construction department, at a March 7 community meeting.
Teachers complained that the long walk will be a burden.
“This will not work,” said Mason school board member Ricardy Anderson. “This is not a reasonable solution.” Having faculty walk a quarter of a mile from their car will make it harder to recruit and retain teachers, she said.
The church parking lot would only be available during the day, Monday-Thursday, as it’s used by the nearby mosque on Fridays.
Anderson said the plan for using the church for parking doesn’t take into account the need for parking at athletic events and community activities at the school during the evening or students who already purchased parking passes.
Dietz suggested staff be given priority for the school parking lot, while students could use the church lot.
She acknowledged the parking issue is problematic. “We’re trying to do the best we can with what we have,” she said. “There’s only so much space we have here.” Justice is located on a smaller lot than other schools, so the addition is being built on part of the parking lot.
Other participants at the meeting complained that a promised working group on parking hasn’t been formed yet.
When the Board of Supervisors approved a rezoning for the school project last August, one of the proffers negotiated by the Planning Commission called for FCPS to set up a working group made up of students, staff, and community members to explore long-term parking solutions.
Construction will start this spring
The Justice expansion project is slated to be completed in winter 2025. The Henley Construction Co. is the general contractor.
In addition to the new classrooms, the addition includes a 1,800-square-foot expansion of the cafeteria and a new common area in the school
The first phase of the project. to start right after spring break, involves the construction of a sidewalk on the school side of Peace Valley Lane, a new stormwater facility, and parking lot improvements.
Related story: Planning Commission endorses Justice HS expansion with limited parking
The Fairfax County Department of Transportation has agreed to construct a sidewalk on the other side of Peace Valley Lane between Diamond Drive and Mansfield Road, but there is no timeline for that.
The first floor of the addition will have English, ESOL, business, technology, engineering, and special education classrooms.
Science labs will be on the second floor, along with social studies, English, world languages, and special ed classrooms. Math, science, and world languages will be on the third floor.
Funding for the $31 million project comes from school bonds passed in 2017 and 2019.
Growing enrollment
Dietz also agreed with a meeting participant that Justice could again become overcrowded in a few years.
The current school building is designed for 2,000 students. After the addition is built, it will accommodate 2,500 students.
Current enrollment is 2,356, meaning the school is at 117 percent of capacity. Enrollment is projected to be 2,453 in 2024.
In response to complaints about the failure of FCPS to keep the community informed, Christie Scott, director of community relations, said FCPS is improving its communications procedures.
Justice Principal Tiffany Narcisse said she just learned about the use of the church for parking. Her goal is to make sure “we’re getting information early enough so we can properly plan.”
Pedestrian safety
Complaints were also raised about the lack of attention to pedestrian safety.
One parent said measures need to be taken immediately to provide crosswalks and reduce speed limits, noting that a Justice student was fatally struck by a car in November.
While it won’t help Justice students in the short term, the school board passed a resolution in February requiring the superintendent to develop a school traffic and pedestrian safety assessment program and update it annually.
Participants at the meeting also complained that the temporary kiss-and-ride will be on Peace Valley Lane, creating difficulties for special ed students, and that the marching band won’t be able to practice in the back lot.
Everything to do with adding a new addition to Justice H.S. has been bassackwards. First, deciding to allocate the lowest amount possible for the addition just to get by and to be able to say there’s not enough money. Everyone knows Justice H.S. has the least amount of land available than any other H.S. in Fairfax. Who could have known that, certainly not the planners? Of course the H.S. needed a parking garage, but all they can say is NO that’s too much money and we don’t need to spend it on Justice H.S. When the time comes for figuring out parking, we can just restripe the parking lot or better still take the parkland across the street. Above all, never communicate with the residents. We can say residents, faculty, students, have no legal standing. Besides no one cares about this high school. We know that the district supervisor won’t stand up for the high school and the school board member can only complain about all the problems, and continue to say we don’t need a parking garage because it’s unsafe. Above all, be sure that FCPS Facilities, the Supervisor, School Board member never answers anyone’s questions, ideas, or asks for accountability. Remember we have the power to ignore/ghost these irritating constituents. Better still direct them to somebody else. This is not our responsibility, we are just the deciders!
They should have just put it at the ugly park that no one uses. But some bored local despotic residents decided to make a big stink of using the stupid park. Even did a few victory laps when she “saved the park.” You know the type… blasting the neighborhood unsolicited, telling the neighborhood she is in charge, signing off on the email with multiple questionable titles, ranks, honorary designations. The muckrakers own this one. This is the same group that gets a sidewalk put on sleepy hollow with no foresight about the need for additional traffic lights to slow down drivers when pedestrians cross. HINT: just having a couple painted crosswalk lines is not enough to slow the drivers that speed with impunity.
How about a shuttle from the church parking lot to the school
That’s a great idea, Priscilla.
Seriously why does FCPS not “buy” the park from Fairfax County Parks and Rec division and give this under served neighborhood a facility equal to other FCPS. It makes me so sad & angry when I attend sporting events at other FCPS and see the fields and outdoor space let alone the indoor facilities. Justice will be at max captivity to over crowded at the 2025 completion of this addition. Kids in school now will suffer and they won’t be able to say this was for a successful result. No where to put trailers kids in weird spaces that shouldn’t be called classrooms. I don’t even know where that church is for the parking. Once again the county treats Justice as 2nd class citizens in meeting our needs. Then the neighborhood groups slows and blocks the progress, what do you expect from the entitled folks who live there. Place the sports fields in the park. Kudos neighborhood , the same neighborhood that won’t allow school attendees to park on their streets. Yes , those signs for no parking were from a petition of neighbors to not allow parking. Can we get a list of those folks and have the students park in front of their houses, so the teachers can park in the lot? If we moved the field we could put trailers (omg – I can’t believe I am encouraging trailers) and parking where the current field is.
Hey I’m a student here at Justice High School. We were actually informed today that Justice students were not allowed to use the parking lot for student parking and left notices on mine and many others vehicles saying that because the parking lot is a private lot “vehicles in violation are subject to being towed at the owners expense.”